Falling Without a Flight Plan
by Of Chaos and Destruction
Summary: This is originally from the Soulmark Fic and Discussion forum on this site, but someone requested that it also be posted as a story. This is another DOS Fanficfanfic (as in Silver Queens Dreaming Of Sunshine, so read that first, or nothing will make any sense), and we're going back down the Soul Marks rabbit hole - with an added dash of time travel, and a lot of angst. Bon Appétit
1. Chapter 1: Free Fall

Okay, so this is another DOS Fanficfanfic (as in Silver Queens Dreaming Of Sunshine, so read that first, or nothing will make any sense), and we're going back down the Soul Marks rabbit hole - with an added dash of time travel, and a lot of angst. This is originally from the Soulmark Fic and Discussion forum on this site. I'm cross posting all the parts here because a forum user asked me to ages ago, and I've just now got the time and patience to do it. Please enjoy :)

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is the rightful property of Silver Queen or Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

In Newtonian physics, free fall is any motion of a body where gravity is the only force acting upon it. In the context of general relativity, where gravitation is reduced to a space-time curvature, a body in free fall has no force acting on it.

* * *

Shikako was so glad when Tsunade relented, and let them go on o _ne last_ mission as Team 7 before Naruto left with Jiraiya for his training trip.

Shikako was _less glad_ when they were assigned a C-rank, but the Kage assured them that she'd had it vetted _three separate times_.

'A sure bet' she'd told them as they left, and a collective shudder passed down the backs of the four 'Lucky Sevens'.

It was supposed to be a simple retrieval mission, but they didn't make it as far as the borders of Fire Country before things predictably went to hell.

* * *

Shikako does not know who her enemies are, and they've taken great pains to disguise themselves and their loyalties.

They have different body types, chakra natures and specialisations, but their weapons, clothes and skin tones (dyed probably) have the artificial homogeneity of an intentionally faceless Black-Ops unit. Or rather, three Back-Ops units, seeing as how there are 12 enemy nin bearing down on them.

Two teams are engaged in the monumental effort of containing Kakashi-sensei, and three nin from the final team match up against the apprentices.

The fourth member is doing something worrying with seals around the perimeter her comrades are enforcing.

Shikako has some terrible suspicions about their mission, given that black masked nin are very deliberately _not injuring_ them.

The Balck-Ops teams have been throwing around tainted Senbon, and clouds of noxious smoke, even jutsu when called to it. But they have not struck _any_ decisive blows against Team 7.

With sharp battle focus set in, Shikako sees the faintly purple edge of a Tanto pull back slightly as it drew across Sasuke's ribs a few feet away – a graze; and the way Naruto sways, littered with metal needles – too much like that time in wave.

He's flickering red-blue: like a dying police siren from a lifetime ago.

Shikako's own opponent is having a hard time, it would seem. He cannot approach directly, not with her shadow lengthened by the evening sun low on the horizon. Soon enough that strength will become a weakness, as night bleeds over the land; but Shikako is not foolish enough to think she will last that long in this combat.

For now, she enhances her body and puts Kakashi's 'dodge training' to good use; twisting and weaving around the ranged attacks of her opponent. She will not be able to keep it up forever, not with a dose of the poison in her system.

Shikako tries to metabolise it, but she is not skilled enough – not precise enough to do so in battle, and especially not while chemically compromised.

The first attack had been a sudden explosion of coloured smoke, and only Kakashi had escaped from it without displaying obvious symptoms of the drug.

Some kind of anaesthetic, or sedative.

The Nara is just desperate enough to use the Gelel stone when she sees Sasuke stumble – fall. She becomes shadow quickly, easily. Simpler than breathing, because the shadow does not need breath, Shikako turns a portion of her mass to a cutting edge, and _strikes._ Her opponent falls, and she darts across to Sasuke.

Shikako is flesh and blood again at his side, because she can't be a shadow and heal Sasuke at the same time.

Then something happens.

The last nin calls out, some shrill bird-cry mimicry, and her comrades fall back – leaving their dead behind carelessly.

Kakashi is suddenly next to them, with Naruto lolling under one arm – and then she and Sasuke are in his arms as well. Crushed with her back to his chest, and Sasuke pressing so hard against her front Shikako can barely breathe.

Sensei's arm is an iron bar fastened so tightly around Sasuke's middle that Shikako is sure she can feel it _through_ the Uchiha.

Kakashi's plan is clear.

He tries to jump over the encircling mass of seals, take his students and get the fuck out of dodge.

 _Except that doesn't work._

Shikako, as obscured as her view currently is, can see the Kanji of the seal – feel its intent.

Contain

Bind

Ensnare

It won't let them go.

It is in fact, Shikako notices as it grabs at them, four interlocking seals – one for each of them.

Calibrated.

That's what the fight was for, Shikako realises: the Seal Mistress needed their measure for the seal to work.

It is truly upon them now, a black maelstrom trying to settle into their skin – into their chakra.

It is a stupid, _desperate_ , **reckless** thing Shikako does next; but what choice does she have?

Attempts to disrupt, or dispel the chakra-ink by simply lashing out with her own chakra are fruitless, so instead of pushing, Shikako pulls. Rather than rend or destroy, she _adds._

Anything her addled brain can think of, anything that might fit in the ever shrinking gaps in the compressing and settling enemy seal: the timer sequence of her Touch Blast, preservation elements from her food storage scrolls, a stabilisation matrix that settled between settled ink over Kakashi-sensei's hara, and the fluctuating marks digging into Shikako's spine.

 _Anything to stop this._

With one last addition (some half remembered sigil that made her recall a stylised image of a chameleon for some reason she didn't have the time to focus on) the seal **changed**.

Accepted the new command codes.

Still in flux, it pulled through the four of them.

 **Preserve** settled into the primary focus of the secondary ofuda, overriding the original directive.

The primary focus of the first was still in flux, but now it felt like **travel/move/distort** – it meant something bigger than traversing mere earth.

But it was incomplete.

Shikako reached _through_ her sensei to reach the central array, wishing desperately to be away, _far far away from here_ _ **please.**_

 _And something came to life._

Some dead thing, purposeless without the chakra of its creator, wavered into existence – returning to ink from a shadow of itself.

It shared a likeness with the chameleon seal that had become the focus of the principal seal, and was accepted into the writhing mass easily.

Suddenly the world wavered.

Suddenly space-time lost its grip on four bodies in motion.

Suddenly, a call went out though countless millions of universes, and the seal was **complete**.


	2. Chapter 2: Parachute Landing Fall

There is the second instalment from the forums, tidied up a bit. Enjoy.

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is the rightful property of Silver Queen or Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

A parachute landing fall (PLF) is a safety technique that allows a parachutist to land safely and without injury. Used by paratroopers and recreational parachutists alike, the technique is used to displace the energy of the body contacting the earth at high speeds. When executed properly, this technique is capable of allowing a parachutist to survive uninjured during landing speeds that would otherwise cause severe injury, or even death.

* * *

They fell.

Well, not really; but that's what it felt like.

The sudden shift _feels_ like an unstoppable free fall, and the sensation of movement continues even as things like oxygen and gravity fall away.

 _Shikako doesn't know_ _ **what to do**_ _,_ but she's never let that stop her before.

Her comrades are endangered, because despite the fact that they are not being ripped apart in the endless void they are hurtling thorough – they still need to _breathe_.

She tries the stone again. Crushing the remainder of her chakra into its depths.

When she pulls back again, Shikako tries to include the rest of Team 7, to pull them into shadow with her.

But she can't.

The stone is hers alone _, made_ **of** _her,_ and she can't connect it properly with the chakra of her team.

She twists around them instead, saturating them with her energy; hopes that does _something._

They re-emerge after a stretch that might have been seconds or millennia – or no time at all, seeing as how 'time' doesn't really make sense without 'space'.

The 'landing' was a relief; for all that it was unpleasant and jarring.

Then she dropped the shadowed state and the relief vanished; dissipating like mist confronted with the first rays of dawn.

As a shadow, Shikako is a self-contained entity, but when she becomes a flesh being, she is able to perceive natural energy again.

Everything is _wrong_.

It still _looks_ like fire country, but it _isn't right_.

The energy here is... viscous.

It _wants_ to stick to them, already it twinned through their bodies in a way that's reminiscent of the seal that brought them here.

It didn't seem to be doing anything bad, but the way it traced over her skin was invasive somehow, and that she couldn't stop it was deeply unnerving.

Taking a shuddering breath, and forcing herself not to choke on it, Shikako examined teammates.

All of them were out cold, drugged and exhausted, but they didn't seem overly injured. They were all affected by the sedative, which meant that Kakashi-sensei had some way of fighting while compromised, but they weren't suffering oxygen deprivation or moral injury.

Relief again.

Obviously she had to revive sensei first.

He'll know how to fix this.

He has to, because Shikako sure as hell doesn't.

* * *

She barely has the energy to scrape together to perform the Iryō Ninjutsu, but Kakashi-sensei was waking up, and that's what matters.

He didn't immediately leap into action, the way he had in wave; but instead laid perfectly still as she metabolised the last of the chemicals in his bloodstream. The only way she can even tell he's awake was because of the flow of his chakra. It coursed through his body, enhancing his muscles, and curling over his half-open Sharingan eye in a way that indicates a Genjutsu she doesn't bother to see.

Eventually, he seemed to determine that what he was seeing was real, and holds up his hand in with the sign for 'desist' then continues with 'teammates' and 'status update' while rooting through his pockets with the other hand.

Unlike other sign languages, Kakashi-sensei's could be utilised largely one handed and was very economical with its movements, which Shikako has always admired.

She signs back 'incapacitated' 'non-fatal injuries' then pauses and adds 'not Fire Country' somewhat clumsily, stringing the individual world together 'not correct...' there wasn't really a sign for 'natural energy' in Shikako's vocabulary, so she improvises with twitching fingers to say 'sage' and 'chakra'.

Kakashi, now on his feet, frowned at that.

'Genjutsu' he signs, and adds the twisting motion of the wrist: indicating a question requiring immediate response has been asked.

With her dominant hand, Shikako rests her index and middle finger on her thumb, and briefly tapped pinkie and ring finger to the centre of her palm: high-certainty negative it meant. If she'd used her non-dominant left hand, it would have meant low-certainty negative.

Silently, Kakashi examines their surroundings again. Then asks with a twitch of fingers and a twist of the wrist if there are any enemies nearby.

Shikako is perfectly still for a moment as she stretches out her senses, and just as she raised he right hand to signal the negative, she senses something far away. It was like being able to see a mountain from a hundred miles of flat land away.

She feel any specifics, but the Nara had only felt something like this once before; the Chūnin exams invasion. From this distance (miles at least) it is simply a blur of active, destructive, chakra.

Numbly, Shikako reports her findings. They are perhaps as many as 5 miles from a large scale ninja combat zone.

She can see the indecision in his eyes. He is an elite Shinobi Konohagakure. He has a duty to investigate something like this.

But he is also a sensei, and he has a duty to his students.

His students who, as far as he's concerned, are all incapacitated in enemy territory and the targets of some specialised hunter/recovery unit.

In the end, he has her perform the Iryō Ninjutsu for just a split-second so he can copy it, then coveres his Sharingan and wakes the boys up.

It's not a complete job; because medical Jutsu are too complicated to simply copy perfectly right of the cuff - the body is a complex feedback system, and Kakashi-sensei is aware enough of his own limitations the matter to pull back when they began to stir.

He has them hide high in the trees tops while he scouts out a defensible location.

* * *

Naruto has his own advantage against the poison in his blood, but Sasuke was barely upright supported between his teammates.

Shikako could probably finish the job, but she's under orders to lay off Jutsu until her chakra levels improve, or the situation demands it.

So Shikako crams a ration bar into each of the boys, chokes one down herself despite her stomachs complaints, and waits with her hand tight around the hilt of her lightsaber.

Kakashi ghosts back to their position and signals for them to follow in formation after, er, _compelling_ a rather reluctant Uchiha onto his back.

He leads them away from the battle, and shows them to a small outcropping of rock. The small, well hidden cave there is more than big enough for the four of them to sit in.

A good hiding spot sure, but it's a rather alarming development to Shikako, seeing as how they had been on their way to the land of Tea. This was not the geography of the South East Fire Country. If Shikako has to guess, she'd say they were near the Land of Rice - not a place she ever wants to be near, in all honesty.

Stony-faced as he departs, Kakashi commands Sasuke to sleep off the toxins, and Naruto and Shikako to be on guard.

* * *

It's a very long hour and a half later when he finally returns, looking grim and troubled.

"Ne, "Shikako," he asks slowly "How likely is it that we have travelled through time to get here?"

Shikako _really considers_ that question for a moment, slowly drinking the fantastical ridiculousness of the world she lives in.

It seems like an honest, serious question, so she answers it in an honest and serious way.

"Well Sensei, that depends. Was the seal on your right shoulder the space-time warping technique commonly known as the Hiraishin? If so then, I'd say 'fairly likely'."


	3. Chapter 3: Uncharted Territory

Here is the third instalment, Please enjoy. Also, I offer no guarantees on the accuracy of the science you will find below, but know that the effort was sincere.

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is the rightful property of Silver Queen or Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

Travelers are always discoverers, especially those who travel by air. There are no signposts in the sky to show a man has passed that way before. There are no channels marked. The flier breaks each second into new uncharted seas. Anne Morrow Lindbergh

* * *

"So ah, _why,_ exactly do you think we're in the past Kakashi-sensei?" Shikako asks quite reasonably, all too happy to sidestep the 'whys' of their situation after offloading the blame squarely onto the Fourth's Seal - grateful that said man is not there to defend himself.

"Well, I'm pretty sure we're currently in early stages of the Third Shinobi War, so naturally we would have to be about 20 years in the past for that be the case."

"Naturally." She echos hollowly, because _what?_

'This is bad… _so bad,_ _war?_ '

Not the pissing contest they're having with Kumo, but an **actual war?** And they're in the past?

Shikako is not, as it happens, a superstitious person; but this incident may be enough to convince her of the Team 7 Curse she sometimes hears the mission desk Nin whimpering about.

"But... how can we be in the past? What's that even mean?" Naruto demands, and even he can tell this is a Bad Thing.

 _What does it mean?_

That's a very good question.

"It depends," Shikako muses aloud "on how we've travelled through time… and the nature of time itself" Shikako's fingertips gravitate towards each other as she thinks.

"If we have travelled through our own time stream, then there are... at least four possible outcomes. First: we were always going to travel back in time, and that is simply a part of the past was were previously unaware of - preserving the sanctity of the time stream."

And Shikako can tell that she has already lost Naruto, but continues gamely on because Kakashi-sensei still looks like he might understand what she's talking about.

"Second: by moving backwards in time, we have caused time to branch out, meaning that this time will be changed by us, but _our own time_ will continue on unchanged."

The Nara takes a breath, and centres herself.

"Third: our actions here affect our present (the future, that is) which might damage history as we know it, but the time stream may remain intact. These are the 'good options'." she informs them (well, really only Kakashi: presently Sasuke has a better chance at understanding this - and since he's currently drugged into unconsciousness in the corner... well let's just leave it that) grimly, and continues on to the 'not good options'.

Striking while the iron is hot.

"Fourth: we may accidentally change something so fundamental that it would change or prevent our trip to this time, meaning that we would never come to the past to make that change – and therefore get caught in an infinite loop of changing and not-changing time. _Oh wait –_ **Fifth** : we make the aforementioned changes, and the ripple effect of those changes disrupts this fabric of the universe, and all of space and time is destroyed by the paradox we create."

For the past several minutes, Naruto has squinted at her like Shikako has suddenly taken on the luminosity of the sun - but his next question indicates that he had taken her previous advice to listen for buzzwords, even if he can't figure out exactly what is being said.

"So we might... destroy all of space and time? That would be pretty bad… right?"

"Yes Naruto," Kakashi-sensei huffs, something caught between annoyance, amusement and unease "that would be pretty bad."

"Which of these options is more likely?" He asks, sounding like he didn't _especially_ want to know the answer.

Shikako humms thoughtfully, "Without more information... it's impossible to say..."

She tries she sounds calm and collected; but the comforting weight of her sensei's hand in her shoulder tells her she is not successful. She must look a _right state_ if _Sensei_ is initiating physical contact.

"I, uh, might be able to find out though... if I could study the seal – and this might not even be _our_ time stream - everything would probably be fine in that case. And that would explain why everything feels so weird..." The tingle of foreign energy across every inch of her skin is certainly unlike anything she's come across before, though it pales into insignificance in comparison to the annoying _pervasive_ itch on her chest.

"What does 'different time stream' mean?" Naruto asks with such a comically scrunched up face that it just _has_ to be engineered solely to lighten the mood.

"Well, some people think that our world – the whole universe we know, every star and planet and all the dark between – is just one of many. One of an infinite number of other worlds. Some like ours, others unlike anything we could imagine. This might be one of them... if we're lucky."

"Then this is gunna be awesome! We're the Lucky Seven's! No one's got luck like us!" He was grinning again, bright as sunshine.

Kakashi-sensei scoffed, "I can't disagree with that."

And Shikako laughs, because _she_ can't either.

Then she sits down, and pulls empty scrolls from a seal in her left pocket (tossing a couple to Kakashi-sensei, because his Sharingan would remember the seal more perfectly them even her Nara brain could manage) and got to work.

She would have the more complete picture though, both on account of being exposed to the complete seal as felt through her shadowed-state during the transitory period, and being the... catalyst of some of its changes...

* * *

When she re-emerged hours later from a complicated chart that tracked the growth of the seal, and what changes she'd wrought, Shikako found that all her teammates were upright and functional again.

"Sasuke!" She called out happily, and he and Naruto looked over expectantly. "You're awake! How are you feeling?"

He sighs a touch dramatically. "Shikako, I've been up for half hour."

Shikako blinks, then nods; trying to look suitably impressed or something.

He sighs again, and proclaims her hopeless.

"Have you come to any conclusions?" Kakashi-sensei cuts in, his deliberately laid back tone and body language belayed by the laser focus of his eye.

"Hai sensei," she says brightly, distractedly itching at that spot on her chest again. There's probably dirt or something stuck under her shirt; and it's really starting to irritate her.

'How to phrase this...

... There is literally no way to say this that doesn't sound bad.'

"During the attack, I added destabilising elements to the enemy seal; mostly timed release or balancing arrays that would clog up the seal network. These things took over the seal, but ultimately were integrated into the overall structure - so that's _why_ we were trapped and unable to move our bodies while in transit. I pushed the 'capture' objective into being the secondary focus, and made the primary focus movement – to escape the hunter units-" she justifies uneasily, and bites her lip... unwilling to get to the really incriminating bit.

"I've been looking into seals that govern Summons, and may have accidentally chosen an element of movement that relates more to... travel between dimensions, rather than through space itself – which is a good thing, otherwise the Hiraishin would have brought us to our own past, rather than… wherever we are now. Which is not our past at least"

"You're sure?" Sensei asks evenly.

"Almost Certain." Shikako nods.

"So... we're _not_ going to destroy all of space and time now, right? See, I told you we're the luckiest people in the world! Dattebayo!" For Naruto, that seemed to be that.

Not so for Kakashi and Sasuke.

"Yep," she affirms with forced cheer to the blond, "Team 7 is not going destroy the universe _just yet.'_

She watches her more intellectually inclined comrades consider her words.

Kakashi, she knows, _must_ be aware of how dangerous it is to tamper with seals the way she did; and the speculative gleam in his eye questions her rapid identification of the Hiraishin Seal. Shikako is suddenly very glad that she'd hidden the incriminating evidence safely away at home.

Even though it would be pretty useful right about now...

Eventually Kakashi-sensei speaks up.

"You said that the seal immobilised us… but, you did something, while the seal was active. Some shadow technique; what was that?"

Shikako has always admired Kakashi-sensei's economy with words; how he can ask so many questions with so few words.

What was that technique?

Why were you able to use it?

What does it do?

Choosing her words carefully again, Shikako explains:

"There are a number of Clan techniques in development," which is true, no matter how little that statement has to do with _anything_ they're talking about here "and the one I used is… something of my own. It allows me to… turn into shadow. And without a solid physical body, the seal couldn't contain me." Shikako feels somewhat uneasy about the deception, but the only one who has clearance to know about the stone is Naruto. Her mission leader _needs_ to know her capabilities though – however much she wants to keep them concealed.

They are in the middle of a war with _no allies_ , finite resources and only the barest hint of how to get home.

If such a thing is really possible.

Shikako's stomach drops at the thought.

They are _no longer in their own universe_ – is it even possible to get back?

How could she manage that? She has fragments of the seal that brought them here… so she can theoretically get to other universes… But how would she find theirs? Sift through infinity, one world at a time?

"Is it safe for the field?" Kakashi asks slowly, and she returns to the matter at hand; she can see him weighing the advantages of intangibility.

Shikako sighs, "So far."

Finally, she has had enough of that bloody itch, and she hooks her fingers on the collar of her shirt to _really_ scratch it and finally sees just what has been bugging her.

"Gyah!" Shikako exclaims gracelessly as she jerks backwards in surprise, trying to get away from her own skin; hand pulling away of its own accord.

There is a moment of awkwardness as Kakashi-sensei steps forwards with a hand outstretched, then realises exactly _where_ his hand is headed… and just sort of _wobbles a bit,_ then stops.

Shikako has no such qualms, and with both hands pulls down the hem of her shirt to expose the writing she saw there – because if there was **even** **one** living fragment of the seal active, and on her person… that was such an unimaginably **bad thing** that Shikako _can't even think about it._

But it wasn't a seal.

It was… names?

Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi.

They form a triangle, a little to the left on her chest. It lines up perfectly with her _through-and-through_ scar from the Gelel mission; beginning at the middle of Kakashi's name as the base of the triangle, and ending in the hairs breadth gap between Naruto's and Sasuke's names.

"What even…" she breathes.

And they're in _colour –_ because why the fuck not?

Crisp forest green for the boys, with a green-blue-gold watercolour painting in the shape of sensei's name.

They stand out vividly against her irritated skin.

"Hey, that's how I write my name and everything!" Naruto exclaims, eyeballs suddenly an inch from her chest.

Shikako is not particularly a 'wilting blossom', nor overly concerned with feminine dignity, but some base instinct has her punch Naruto into the far wall of the cave anyway.

"Sorry Naruto…" She murmurs, returning the collar of her shirt to its previous position. She doesn't even have boobs yet to be defensive about, but it's probably better to break Naruto out of unsociable habits early anyway.

"It's okay," he wheezes, rubbing his chest tentatively.

"Hey, I've got one too!" He seems oddly excited about having random names appearing on his skin for no readily apparent reason.

Sasuke easily checks his skin by peering down the wide brim of his own collar.

All of them so far.

Three sets of eyes turn speculatively to Kakashi's position.

His mask, after all, was _part_ of the shirt.

"Maa ma, why don't we just assume that the pattern holds true?"

They wilt, pouting, as one.

Shikako then speaks up again.

"Ne, Sensei? We can take the 'almost' off that 'certain' now; I pretty sure that this is an effect of the weird Natural Energy here. This is definitely not our past."

* * *

Notes: And so the Soulmarks card is played : )


	4. Chapter 4: Shifting CG

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is the rightful property of Silver Queen or Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

Centre of Gravity (CG) is the point at which the mass of the aircraft would be balanced if it were placed on that single point. The point changes depending on the loading of the aircraft: fuel, passengers, luggage, etc. Each aircraft has CG limits specified by its manufacturer. If the CG of the aircraft in its current configuration is outside of the specified limits, the aircraft may be unsafe to fly as the control surfaces will have insufficient authority to safely control the aircraft. For example, if the CG is behind the aft (rear) CG limit, the aircraft will tend to stall.

* * *

Eventually, after carefully examining her names, and the ones on the boys, Shikako is able to discern that they are nonthreatening – even if there is no reason Shikako can identify for their existence.

The irritation she feels comes from the fact that they are made of some combination of Natural Energy and Spiritual Energy. It doesn't hurt her at all, but it is _there_ and _weird_ and not what she's used to – it's a lot like her first experience with chakra itself really. The redness is entirely the result of her constantly rubbing it, _but it's really irritating and distracting and she wants to scratch the itch_ **dammit.**

She studies the names present on the boys too, and the results are… well she still doesn't know enough to say…

The colours are slightly different – neither Sasuke or Naruto have any green in Kakashi's name on their skin; but her name on both of them is pure green, they both have green-orange for each other's names.

Shikako really can't make heads nor tails of it, and eventually she cajoles, and begs, and bribes until Kakashi-sensei relents and agrees to allow her to study his chest. It comes at the steep cost of having to sleep for the next 4 hours, but eventually Kakashi opens his Jōnin vest and lifts his shirt up until the names over his heart are visible.

They are all somewhat disappointed not to see his face – but that's life. It's mostly a game at this point anyway, Shikako doesn't honestly know what they'd do if they saw his face. It would probably be horribly embarrassing for everyone, like accidentally seeing a parent naked or something.

Unsurprisingly, the names aren't hurting Kakashi-sensei at all… No green here either… all their names are gold-blue. Shikako doesn't know what the colours signify, but she now knows that they don't have to match up entirely… though there seems to always some overlap. She wonders if the positioning of the names, or the structure of the triangle is significant.

Her name is the base for all of her teammates' marks… and Naruto and Sasuke's names are both Right-Left for herself and Kakashi – but Naruto has Sasuke's name on his right, and Sasuke Naruto's on his left.

Grumbling Shikako settles herself into a recently unsealed sleeping bag, she doesn't imagine that she will be able to get much sleep with all the stress, endless questions, and the general wrongness of the Natural Energy.

She's flat out in seconds; _it's been a really long day._

* * *

She sleeps too deeply, and comes awake too suddenly to understand what's happening.

 _Coughing_. Coughing and choking because she _can't breathe._

The thing about suffocation, is that it makes you feel exactly the same way no matter how old you are. It's a distinct, desperate terror Shikako is all too acquainted with.

For several long moments, she struggles to convince her brain that this is _just Natural Energy,_ just chakra, _just like home_ – but it doesn't listen, and her frantic hyperventilation punctuated by choking/coughing/spluttering is _not helping_.

Her vision starts to grey from _too little_ carbon dioxide in her bloodstream, and she can't stop it.

But then there are arms, cradling her and pulling her up. A hand wreathed in Healing Chakra presses a Diagnostic Jutsu into her chest, and she focuses on it – uncomfortable but _familiar_ and it is enough to regain some control over her chakra. With a single move, Shikako _pushed out_ with her chakra, similar to disrupting a Genjutsu, throwing off the unnatural-feeling Natural Energy.

She has two hands curled into the rough fabric of a flak jacket, and she uses that to lever herself up; to breathe in a familiar sent, press her face into familiar chakra, while she brings her breathing back into order.

"Have I paid my due four hours?" Shikako rasps, delicate epithelial tissues irritated by her own coughing "I don't want to go back to sleep."

When she looked up, three faces stared down with varying degrees of horror.

"What the hell was that?" Demanded Sasuke, who seemed to be speaking on behalf of the rest of the team.

"Well," Shikako begins somewhat uncertainly "when I was little, this happened… you know, before I got used to natural energy and chakra – all that kind of stuff."

Seeing that this is not comforting to her teammates, Shikako continues somewhat hesitantly.

"It's nothing big, I just have a sensitivity to unfamiliar energies.

They still don't look particularly convinced.

"Are you actually chakra hypersensitive?" Kakashi-sensei asks at last, sounding distinctly like he didn't want an affirmative to that question – but expected one none the less.

"Oh, _no_. I'm not in pain or anything, it's just that… differentiated natural energy, or any abundance of energy, is-" She frowned slightly, looking for the right word. "Noticeable. Not painful, but… like breathing thicker air? Like... emmm..."

The boys look deeply sceptical, and sensei is examining her closely with the Sharingan.

Shikako could have sworn that was covered a moment ago.

"The Land of Snow!" She settled on, glad to find a good example that wasn't the Dead Wastes.

"The natural energy there was being channelled by the chakra conductive metals in the earth, and it made the air unpleasant to breathe. This is just like that."

"I don't remember you choking on air in the Land of Snow…" Sasuke notes, dry as dust.

Shikako waved them off and stands up slowly, stretching as she goes.

"This is _more_ different," she shrugs, takes a drink from a canteen to smooth over the worst of the gravel in her throat and adds "I also didn't sleep as deeply. The reaction is due to my enhanced perception – not any kind of- inflammation, or allergy. or something like that."

"Guess you could say it's all in my head, ya know? Psychosomatic reaction."

Maybe now that Shikako's hands have stepped shaking, they'll believe she's alright.

They don't look like they believe she's alright.

"It's really nothing." she says, glossing over the fact that breathlessness is one of the most unpleasant experiences a being could suffer (as Kakashi-sensei must be well aware, being the cause of it during the bell test).

"Now, what are we doing today?" Shikako asks with affected cheer.

She watches as her team visibly tuck away their concerns for later perusal, and Kakashi-sensei rises to a slouch.

"Maa, well I guess that depends." He says finally "I don't suppose my cute little Genin can reverse-engineer a seal to take us back to our own dimension in a day, can she?"

There is no way sensei is _not_ trolling her right now.

"We'll, not today…" Shikako teases out with a playfulness she doesn't feel, and then more seriously adds "and not without more sealing and technological resources than I have with me."

A heavy silence settles over them.

Naruto breaks said heavy silence without noticing it's there.

"So, what are we goanna do now? Rob a library?" His face scrunches up like he's trying to figure out where the nearest library is that they can pilfer.

It's not a bad… plan, strictly speaking.

They are ninja after all, stealing is something they are singularly equipped to do.

(See exhibit A, the book of Gelel currently taking up space in a pocket dimension inside her body, which might actually be a starting place if not for the… stolen part. And the bit where its existence is classified by proxy…)

Shikako tries to think of a way to explain that the information they need won't be in any public library on the continent, or that it might not exist at all.

They might have to do this the old-fashioned way, and science this shit from the ground up.

Which would take… much longer than Shikako feels comfortable contemplating.

Thankfully, Sasuke saves Shikako the effort and scoffs.

"Really, dead last? You think _that level_ of sealing knowledge is just going to be on a shelf next to _his_ dirty books?" at the 'his' Sasuke jerks a chin in Kakashi-sensei's direction, and his eyes flicker disdainfully at one of the many pockets of his flack jacket – presumably the current residence of said dirty book.

Kakashi makes a hurt noise and shields the pocket defensively as Naruto squawks indignantly in the background.

Normally, Shikako would be all for a Fawlty Towers moment, but now doesn't seem _quite_ the time.

"Anyway," she begins purposefully, then deflates – because it's not like Sasuke isn't _right_.

Shikako coughs awkwardly, then continues "what do you suppose the security on Konoha R&D looks like right now?"

Kakashi-sensei gives her a look that _strongly implies_ he hopes that was a poor joke.

"Kusa?" She offers somewhat hopelessly as an alternative.

Sensei looks at her very dryly.

"Okay then." Shikako brings her fingers together like she hopes the 'thinking seal' will magically summon the answers they need.

Unsurprisingly, it does no such thing.

"Erm," is honestly the best Shikako can come up with, and then she ruins it by asking a very, very stupid question "how do you feel about making some old friends?"

The look becomes impossibly dryer.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, Shikako finds herself relegated to the corner with her sealing supplies as sensei takes over the short, mid, and long term planning.

The very worst part of it is, that Shikako is almost certain that he's not going to think of anything better.


	5. Chapter 5: Wind Shear

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is the rightful property of Silver Queen or Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

Wind Shear: a quick change in wind speed or direction.

* * *

It's pretty boring work, being stuck in an alternate dimension, especially since Shikako had plenty of food rations and water sealed away.

Normally, Shikako would find not having to do things a pleasant and novel enough experience that she would be pleased to have provided the team with everything they need.

These were not normal circumstances, however.

 _Normally_ , Shikako would be downright _happy_ to have nothing pressing to do, but there is just something about being confined to a dingy cave, in an alternate universe that makes her wish they need firewood or water - or just _anything_ that would involve _her_ being _outside_.

It would also probably be better if Naruto wasn't there – though thinking that makes Shikako feel like a terrible person.

He's just so... **much.**

So _very much_ trapped in one place for _too long._

He just about vibrated with poorly contained energy, and the constant agitated whirlwind of chakra under his skin set Shikako's teeth on edge.

Less than two days here and they were already feeling the strain.

Except Kakashi-sensei, or at least he was feeling a different kind of strain.

Shikako knew the probable reason for that – knew that it was likely very similar to the reason for Sasuke's own quiet somberness.

Depending on how early in the war they were, Kakashi-sensei's father might still be alive.

Or, well, a version of the man in any case - which Shikako suspected was enough to seriously mess with a person's head.

(Especially if that person is _already_ as messed up as Kakashi-sensei.)

And so all that was a problem, even before they got to the matter of the Uchiha.

None of this was helped by Kakashi insisting that they not practice any Jutsu, so that they didn't risk drawing the attention of anyone outside.

Theoretically, this was a sound decision. As was the confinement. The real problem was, that none of these hypotheticals fully factored in Team 7 being, well, Team 7.

Kakashi-sensei, the lucky bastard, was out running recon and presumably trying to figure out what to do next.

Shikako wishes him much luck and speed, and feels _slightly less_ envious (she really does want to go outside).

Until a little while ago, she had something to do – create seals to hide and trap their cave. Unfortunately, she isn't allowed to even _test_ a single seal while Kakashi's away.

Somewhat at a loose end, she reshuffles all her papers (on the cave seals _and_ the dimension hopping one) into something that roughly approximates order, and stands.

She examines the cave once again, and sighs as she stretches.

The cave is _still_ too small to spar in, just like it was the last fourteen times she checked.

A slow idea curves in the periphery of her thoughts.

"Alright, I think if we position ourselves just right, we should all be able to run katas – but before that, mum has this stretching routine that's really good, so follow me."

It was probably a symptom of their near terminal boredom that the boys shuffled over without any further prompting.

"I woke up in the morning, and saw the mountain standing there..."

* * *

Later that evening, Kakashi comes back even quieter and more brooding than usual (for the given value of usual, as it applies to those who have temporarily misplaced their reality).

With a combination of slightly obnoxious charm(Naruto), belligerence(Sasuke), and sheer bloody-mindedness(Shikako) they eventually bully the truth out of him.

When they have it in full, Shikako almost wishes he never told them.

It lays spread out before them like a mutilated corpse – it's possibilities, and dangers, and the quiet inevitability of their (not really a) choice.

There are several long moments of silence, but Shikako eventually finds the words to speak.

"So three days from now, there is going to be a joint invasion by Sand and Rock, who come in through Rain, leading them to dig in forward bases almost 30 kilometres behind our borders – kicking off the war officially with a losing start for Konoha?"

She tells herself it's just so a can put together sensei's disjointed and unwilling narrative together – but it's not. She just... needs to say it. Verbalise what they are about to head off into, because there's no way-

"And lots of Konoha nin are going to die?" Naruto asks, in a small voice.

"Almost 80% casually rate, before the reinforcements came." Kakashi-sensei confirms hollowly.

"How long will it take us to get there?" Is Sasuke's soul contribution to the conversation.

Shikako has already been calculating this, and given that their destination is half the country away – they'll have to run along the borders of Iron, Waterfall and Grass if they want to avoid running through Fire country and all the risks that entails.

Actually, with everyone paying such close attention to their boarders, it might be easier to slip _through_ the land of fire...

Mentally, Shikako revises her estimates.

"We can make it in two and a half days, if we push it, and cut a direct path through Fire country – that way we'll have time to rest before we begin. What do you remember about the exact location and time of the incursion?"

* * *

Kakashi argues, of course he does – but in short order his cute little Genin are packed up and on the move.

He could force them to remain, he postulates but... individually they each have power enough to draw interested eyes to their position, all three of them at once? It doesn't bear thinking about.

(That doesn't mean he _can't do it_ , of course. He's been an elite Jōnin for longer than any of them has been alive. But something stays his hand anyway, and Obito's eye burns in its socket. "Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum" remains unspoken, but they are all aware of it nonetheless. Those people, the ones they are going to save – they are not their comrades. Not quite, not really – but they are close enough that it doesn't actually matter. This is (a) Fire Country, his team are Konoha nin, and so are the shinobi they are going to reinforce. It's simple, once you get all the complicated bits out of the way.)

With a kind of irritated fondness he takes the lead position, and he students rearrange themselves behind him.

If nothing else, it's a good opportunity to drill them on how to move stealthily through enemy territory – though he gleefully informs them that this is _much easier_ than it _could be_. The abundance of trees is one factor, to say nothing of Shikako-chans preternatural sensory ability, but Kakashi's familiarity with the area and knowledge of the location of guard posts is their greatest boon.

They have a few scares, and one close call, but they make it to the border with Rain in reasonable time – things are somewhat complicated when Kakashi makes the executive decision that they can be a few hours late.

He has (students to protect, they need to be rested at least; before he drags them into hell) an image to preserve, after all – even if he doesn't have it _just yet._ Maybe in another life, he'll never have it, if this other Kakashi is very lucky. (Won't always **always** be too late for everything that matters.)

Well, he tries to make an executive decision – he finds that Team 7 is rather more of a democracy than is strictly encouraged in a ninja village, and suddenly _he_ is the one haggling over sleeping hours due.

Shikako looks so unbearably smug that it strains the already hostile negotiations, but eventually they come to a tolerable compromise.

* * *

Notes: Not having strike-through is so irritating. Why have it there on the Forums, if you're not going to allow it on the actual stories? *Shakes fist angrily at computer*


	6. Chapter 6: Into the Squall

Here is the latest update of Falling Without a Flight Plan, and you can find this on the Forums too. Please enjoy.

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is the rightful property of Silver Queen or Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

Squall: a sudden violent gust of wind or localised storm, especially one bringing rain, snow, or sleet.

* * *

In another life, this battle would have gone differently. In another world, Chouza would have made a choice. The same choice he would have made in every run of every iteration of this scenario, because when push came to shove, the man's core was unshakeable. His priorities unchangeable.

His team, _his family_ , always came first.

Always.

In a not-so-distant alternate universe, Chouza, keeping a close eye on Shikaku and Inochi both, would have noticed the Nara's predicament. Would have seen, across the battlefield, that his brother in arms was forced to attempt use of his newest experiment with Shadow Jutsu.

His _untested in live combat,_ thought experiment - the one that was shot down by _every_ clan member he'd mentioned it to so far.

That it was failing.

That he was pinned down, holding some dozen enemy nin under his power, without anyone to dispatch them for him. This his jerky, shuddering, attempts to move them were unsuccessful.

Chouza would carry the consequences of his choice for the rest of his life. Forever knowing exactly what he was capable of, when it really came down to it. When his precious people were on the line.

That he would abandon his post and tear through the battlefield to protect Shikaku. That his absence in the perimeter would leave their triage area open to enemy attack; would allow their injured and medics to be slaughtered without mercy.

He would live knowing that he'd make the same choice again, even knowing the end result. That he would make those kinds of choices over and over again. As many times as it took to bring Inochi and Shikaku home with him.

It would be a settled issue, even before they cut the slow and bloody path back to Konoha. Written off somewhere between 'the haze of war' and clan obligation, with an added dash of 'we need all hands on deck'.

But that was another world. Another life.

This time, when Chouza turned to look over the blood-drenched distance between him and one of his two closest friends, he would see a small female Nara (he couldn't specify more from this distance) add her shadow to Shikaku's, and their captive enemies cut their own throats. Assured of his friends immediate survival, Chouza turned back to his own duties, which had honestly become a lot easier since the White Fang had shown up out of nowhere to decimate the enemy forces. Moving with a vengeance and vigour he'd not seen from the older nin since this the mission that started this conflict, at least judging from the flashes of silver, blood, and dark that had been visible from the Amikichis perspective.

The tide of battle began to turn.

* * *

Shikako knew, the moment she concluded the kagemane jutsu, that it had been a mistake. The kind of mistake you'd make again and again into infinity, but a mistake still.

She'd stayed behind her father's line of sight, made sure to dart away, back turned, into the throng where her teammates fought side by side.

Their formation opened up to accommodate her, and it still managed to feel like coming home. _They_ managed to fell like home, despite the fact that they were in a different world, a different time, and a different type of fight than they'd ever participated in before.

 _Engagement_ , she corrected herself, a battle of attrition and breakthrough she added mentally, because the terms were important in so far as they correctly labelled the aims of their enemies.

This is a war, she reminded herself, not some minor skirmish off the border with kumo they were going to pretend never happened. They came into (not) her home with a superior force, intent on murdering their way as far into (not) her country as possible, with the intent to set up a forward base in order to kill even more of (not) her people.

They had passed a civilian village a few miles out on their way to this outpost, and since Kakashi-sensei had carefully _not_ mentioned it during his brief overview of the battle and resultant ground losses, Shikako didn't really need to think too hard about what that likely meant for the souls living there.

Morale of the enemy countrymen and combatants was a legitimate target in war, just as much as any strip of land - maybe even moreso.

That wasn't going to happen this time. Shikako wouldn't allow it and, more to the point, Sensei wasn't going to allow it. Kakashi was the type of ninja that made a difference in these kinds of situations, that 11th hour, ace in the hole, rabbit out of the hat, unstoppable force.

They knew (well, at least Shikako knew) that the rest of the team were there mostly because they wouldn't stay away. The contribution of three chunin-level nin in this conflict was… well, not insignificant, but not vast either. That, and leaving them tied up somewhere was more of a risk than it was worth - Kakashi-sensei tended to prefer them where he could keep an eye on them.

At least, he has since that Waterfall incident.

And that thing with the ferret.

Sasuke covered Shikako's exposed side, cutting down the enemy Iwa nin who'd been looking to take advantage of her distraction, and shot her a _look_ , equal parts concern and irritation.

Shikako flashed the Team 7 sign for 'all clear' and pulled her head out of the past.

This wasn't really the time to be reminiscing about the last invasion she'd helped to repel, but the feeling of air on her arms reminded her of the last time she'd had to go without her trusty jacket.

 _... It'd had a mark she wanted to hide that time too…_

With a shake of her head, she dismissed the thoughts, and fired off a fairly low-grade touchblast on the handle of a kuni at an approaching sand-nin.

It was uncomfortable to be fighting against the Sauna nin, when they should be allies, when they wore the same headband as her friends; but war's war. And these men and women were _definitely_ not her friends.

Shikako had to move quickly, bleeding chakra into her limbs to twist over Naruto's back and guard him from a Sauna nin he'd mistakenly let through his guard.

Naruto was the hardest hit by all this 'covert action' business. Shikako could get away with some Nara techniques, and small explosions without drawing too much attention from either side, same for Sasuke, who (from the looks of things) was one of the most Uchiha-looking Uchiha out there (Shikako was not used to seeing so many red-and-white fans, and it sent a lance of guilt straight through her chest).

 _But Naruto,_ Shikako thought, as she met the oncoming sword with a kunai, was _really_ being beaten with the Secrets Stick.

No rasengan, no toads, and no orange (sensei insisted - it was a condition of them coming. He'd had to borrow a pair of Shikako's brown three-quarter lengths and lose the jacket.)

He couldn't even use the Shadow Clone as freely as usual. No shouting it out at the top of his voice, no identical copies, and no more than a dozen at a time.

She pushed forwards sharply, and the grinding squeal of metal on metal vibrated through Shikako's brain savagely as she slid just close enough to plant a seal on the unsuspecting nin, then drew back just as quickly - using the flat of her kunai to direct his sword away from her face.

She'd even had to, Shikako recalled as she landed a double-mule kick against the defensively raised arm of her opponent, seal away Tsunade-sama's necklace into Naruto's arm for safe-keeping. The man staggered back several paces, almost into an allied Iwa kunoichi, at the unexpected strength of the blow. Almost immediately, he raised his sword and made to re-engage, but Shikako had already began turning to retake her place in the three-man formation.

She caught the flicker of rage, and disbelief in the dead man's, and he had just enough time to raise his upper lip in a snarl that never gave rise to words - because that was the moment the touchblast activated, and his expression was wiped clear by death.

Behind him, the Iwa kunoichi's blond hair was misted to pink, her horrified white face freckled with the blood and viscera of her ally, but Shikako turned away from her too when a fellow Konoha-nin dispatched her. Shikako briefly flashed him the Konoha Standard for 'thanks' and slipped back into position between her boys, settling in for the long-haul.

She was feeling pretty damn salty over being denied the use of her lightsaber. Luckily, there was no shortage of people she could take her frustrations out on.


End file.
